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Subsurface Drainage Practices in Irrigated Agriculture in Semi-Arid and Arid Regions

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Subsurface Drainage Practices in Irrigated Agriculture in Semi-Arid and Arid Regions henk ritzema drain for gain Making water management worth its salt Subsurface drainage practices in irrigated agriculture in semi-arid and arid regions DRAIN FOR GAIN: MAKING WATER MANAGEMENT WORTH ITS SALT Promoter: Prof. dr. ir. Bart Schultz, PhD, MSc Professor of Land and Water Development UNESCO-IHE The Netherlands Co-promoter: Prof. dr. Wim Cofino Professor of Integrated Water Resource Management Wageningen University The Netherlands Awarding Committee: Prof.dr.ir. Sjoerd E.A.T.M. van der Zee Wageningen University The Netherlands Prof.dr.ir. Nick C. van de Giesen Delft University of Technology The Netherlands Dr.ir. Pieter J.M. de Laat UNESCO-IHE The Netherlands Prof. Chandra A. Madramootoo Ph.D., Ing. McGill University Canada Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Bhutta International Waterlogging and Salinity Research Institute Pakistan This research is conducted within the Research School WIMEK-SENSE. DRAIN FOR GAIN MAKING WATER MANAGEMENT WORTH ITS SALT Subsurface Drainage Practices in Irrigated Agriculture in Semi-Arid and Arid Regions DISSERTATION Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Academic Board of Wageningen University and the Academic Board of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education for the Degree of DOCTOR to be defended in public on Friday, 16 January 2009 at 16:00 hours in Wageningen, The Netherlands by Hendrik Pieter Ritzema born in Baarn, the Netherlands CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2009, Hendrik Pieter Ritzema All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior permission from the publishers. Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication and the information herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the author for any damage to the property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein. Published by: CRC Press/Balkema PO Box 447, 2300 AK Leiden, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] www.crcpress.com – www.taylorandfrancis.co.uk – www.balkema.nl ISBN 978-0-415-49857-9 (Taylor & Francis Group) ISBN 978-90-8585-314-5 (Wageningen University) Preface v Preface On a dark November night in 1975, José and I had a cosy dinner in a small restaurant at the Hertog Govertkade in Delft, opposite the pedestrian bridge. That night, we decided to follow one of our dreams, which was to work and live in countries less wealthy than ours. This decision certainly had far-reaching consequences. We enriched our lives in Surinam, Fiji, Kenya - where Renske was born - and Egypt, the birthplace of Jelle and Hilde. In the end, however, the price was high, maybe too high. José, your courage and determination have kept me going. This dissertation is for you. Both the pedestrian bridge and the restaurant disappeared long ago, but the dream remained. Over the years, working in applied research and training allowed me to gain a wealth of new knowledge and experiences. This took time and, of course, enjoying life with Renske and Jelle had my priority. My colleagues at ILRI, especially Rien, always kept encouraging me about doing a PhD and, in the end, writing up the results has been quite rewarding. In this dissertation, I discuss the role of subsurface drainage based on lessons learned in Egypt, India, and Pakistan. My experiences in Egypt and India, the two countries in which I have worked for about a third of my professional career, are at the core of the study. I could not have done this work without the help and support of so many colleagues, field staff, and farmers that it is impossible to mention everyone; please remember that all of you are in my heart. I especially want to acknowledge all of the farmers and their families. They allowed us to conduct our research in their fields. We asked them to implement a host of new concepts; we dug up their fields and asked them to modify their farming practices, all with no guaranty of success. Nevertheless, they had faith in our research activities and supported us. It gives me great satisfaction to realize that in most places I have worked, I would still be welcomed back as a friend. Clearly, these farmers deserve the credit. I enjoyed the numerous discussions with Bart and Wouter. They helped me place my practical experiences in a scientific framework. Without their support I would likely still be in a field digging up drainpipes and looking into manholes for water. On the other hand, when I found myself too high up in a scientific cloud, Elizabeth was there, who in a very charming and stimulating way, always brought me back to reality. She symbolizes all women, who are not only much more practical, but also infinitely more romantic than men. I would also like to acknowledge the co-authors of the scientific papers on which this dissertation is based, since finding one’s way through the multidisciplinary jungle is not always easy. Finally, I’d like to thank Bart and Wim for helping me assemble the pieces of my jigsaw puzzle by critically reviewing my synthesis. Life was not always easy, and sometimes I buried myself in my work. It was Ymkje who helped me rediscover the joy of life and who, ironically, managed to stimulate me to complete my PhD thesis. Not in our prime time, of course; the days, nights, weekends and holidays we spent together - but in the remaining time, especially during my solitary missions abroad. And that I did, without having to sacrifice much, at least that is how I see it now. Contents vii Contents Preface v Contents vii Summary xi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Rationale of the study 1 1.2 Scope of the study 6 1.3 Objectives 7 1.4 Hypothesis 7 1.5 Methodology 8 1.6 Benefits of the research 8 1.7 Outline of this thesis 9 2 Subsurface drainage practices in Egypt 11 2.1 History of irrigation and drainage in Egypt 11 2.2 Organization of the drainage sector 13 2.3 Planning of drainage projects 14 2.4 Design principles 15 2.5 Installation practices 17 2.6 Disposal of the drainage effluent 20 2.7 A modified layout of the subsurface drainage system for rice areas 22 2.8 Controlled drainage and farmers participation 31 2.9 Verification of drainage design criteria in the Nile Delta 32 2.10 Water balance study in a drained area 40 3 Subsurface drainage practices in India 45 3.1 History of irrigation and drainage in India 45 3.2 Organization of the drainage sector 48 3.3 Design principles 49 3.4 Installation practices 50 3.5 Disposal of the drainage effluent 51 3.6 Lessons learned in famers’ fields 51 3.7 Water balance study in a drained area 64 3.8 Participatory approach 66 3.9 Participatory modelling to cope with off-site externalities of drainage 68 4 Subsurface drainage practices in Pakistan 81 4.1 History of irrigation and drainage in Pakistan 81 4.2 Organization of the drainage sector 83 4.3 Need for subsurface drainage 84 4.4 Design principles 85 4.5 Installation practices 88 4.6 Participatory drainage development 90 4.7 Operation and maintenance 91 4.8 Disposal of the drainage effluent 91 viii Drain for gain: making water management worth its salt 5 Improving subsurface drainage practices 95 5.1 From manual installation to large-scale implementation 95 5.1.1 Introduction 95 5.1.2 Installation equipment 96 5.1.3 Drain pipe materials 98 5.1.4 Envelope materials 100 5.1.5 Quality control 101 5.1.6 Organization 103 5.1.7 Capacity Building 107 5.1.8 Conclusions 108 5.2 The added value of research on drainage in irrigated agriculture 109 5.2.1 Introduction 109 5.2.2 Identification of the need for subsurface drainage 110 5.2.4 Planning and design 111 5.2.5 Installation 112 5.2.6 Operation and maintenance 114 5.2.7 Conclusions 115 6 Capacity development to improve subsurface drainage practices 117 6.1 An integrated approach for capacity development in drainage 117 6.1.1 Introduction 117 6.1.2 Materials and methods 118 6.1.3 Training and dissemination of knowledge through publications 120 6.1.4 Capacity development to improve subsurface drainage practices 121 6.1.5 Capacity development to combat waterlogging and salinity 122 6.1.6 Capacity development to increase farmers’ participation 122 6.1.7 Capacity development for wise use of tropical peatlands 123 6.1.8 Discussion 125 6.1.9 Conclusions 127 6.2 Participatory research on the effectiveness of drainage 128 6.2.1 Introduction 128 6.2.2 Participatory research approach 129 6.2.3 Pre-drainage investigations 132 6.2.4 Monitoring programme 133 6.2.4 Model simulations 139 6.2.5 Conclusion and recommendations 139 7 Synthesis: subsurface drainage practices in irrigated agriculture 143 7.1 Is subsurface drainage an acceptable option? 143 7.1.1 Are subsurface drainage systems technically sound? 143 7.1.2 Are the subsurface drainage systems cost-effective? 147 7.1.3 Is subsurface drainage a socially accepted practice? 148 7.2 How can the integration of irrigation and drainage be improved? 150 7.3 What are the main challenges in making subsurface drainage work? 151 7.4 Improving subsurface drainage practices: the way forward 152 7.4.1 The state of the art in subsurface drainage 152 7.4.2 Institutional and policy challenges 154 7.4.3 Increased stakeholder participation 156 7.4.4 Drainage system requirements 161 Contents ix 7.4.5 Capacity development 163 8 The way forward: enhancing the role of subsurface drainage 167 References 171 Abbreviations and acronyms 191 List of symbols 193 Samenvatting 195 Bibliography 201 Curriculum vitae 207 Summary xi Summary The world’s population is projected to grow from 6,500 million people today to more than 9,100 million in 2050.
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